My Better Half
by SnarkyWitch
Summary: A guarded young woman escapes a loveless home and learns how to love herself while building a farm from the ground up. Along the way, she forges lasting friendships with her neighbours and finds her better half in the local doctor, a man named Ford who understands what it's like to be insatiably ambitious, yet unbearably lonely at the same time.
1. The Lost Daughter

"Leigh, if you leave right now, don't think you can just waltz on back here expecting a warm welcome when you inevitably fail at this stupid stunt you're trying to pull!" Daryl shouted after the stage coach taking his daughter away to a new life. A better life, Leigh hoped. Anything had to be better than this. "You've failed at everything you've ever tried to do in your life! What makes you think this will be any different?! Huh?! You're a useless, ungrateful brat!"

Leigh didn't stick her head out of the stage coach to yell back at her father. There was little point in it now. She leaned her head back against the seat, listening to the soothing clopping sound of horse hooves beating the dusty path in front of her. The steady rhythm acted as a comfort blanket of sorts, wrapping Leigh up in its predictable drumbeat.

 _I'm free_ , was the only thought that kept resounding like a mantra of liberation inside her head. The relief was so overwhelming, it made her feel light-headed where she sat.

So why was she still crying?

* * *

"Hey Uncle Frank," Leigh forced a weary smile onto her face as she hopped down from the stage coach, the orange dust of the desert landscape kicking up a cloud around her ankles. Her uncle helped her pull her bags out of the coach. "Thanks for letting me stay with you for a few days. I really appreciate it."

"O' course, Leigh! It ain't no problem at all! I'm always happy ta see my niece," the stocky middle-aged man with ginger hair and a fondness for plaid and denim grinned at her through the stalk of wheat sticking out between his teeth. Leigh never did figure out whether her uncle was born with his southern drawl or whether he picked it up after years of living here in Westown. Maybe her father used to have the same accent but eventually kicked it. The idea of her stone cold father talking with the same jovial lilt as her uncle was an amusing one, but not amusing enough to cheer her up with her father's last words to her ringing in her ears.

" _You're a useless, ungrateful brat!"_

"Musta been a long trip fer ya," Frank commented, tipping his straw hat to Leigh. She caught the sympathetic smile on his face. She knew her eyes had that telltale rim of puffy redness around them that gave away she'd been crying. To most people, Frank might seem like a simpleton but Leigh knew better; nothing escaped her Uncle Frank's sharp notice.

Leigh looked up at the streaks of orange and red painting the blazing sky and inhaled a deep lungful of the dry air in this unfamiliar, arid landscape. "Yeah, almost a whole day on the road," she let out in a heavy whoosh of air, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her dress.

They both knew that wasn't really what Frank meant but neither of them felt the need to elaborate.

"Ah well," Frank sighed, picking up one of Leigh's bags. "Ye're probably dead tired after all that travelin' an' it's gettin' dark. Why don't I help ya bring in yer bags an' rustle us up some supper? I got pizza in the oven. Ya still like pizza, don'cha?" he asked her.

"Who doesn't like pizza?" Leigh managed a small laugh. The sound felt strange to her, like it was coming from somewhere else far away. Pizza sounded good to her right about now. She hadn't eaten all day and she was starving. Come to think of it, she could feel a nasty headache from caffeine withdrawal settling into her temples, too. Maybe she could bother Frank for a cup of coffee with dinner or ask him where the nearest café was.

Frank walked around to the front of the stage coach with one of Leigh's bags in one big burly hand and fished around in the pockets of his overalls with the other hand. He pulled out a small handful of gold coins to pay the driver with.

"Oh, no that's okay, Uncle Frank!" Leigh tried to intervene, rushing forward with a fistful of her own pocket change in her palm. "I brought money, I can pay." She fumbled over the coins with frantic fingers, trying to count it all out before her uncle could pay, but she was too slow. Math had never been her strong suit.

Frank waved off the gesture as the driver nudged his horse into a quick trot and pulled away from the quaint little farmhouse. "S'no trouble, Leigh. Just helpin' ya out. Ye're gonna need ta save all the funds ya can ta get yer new life off the ground. Startin' out with nothin' like ya are, every little coin counts."

Leigh pursed her lips, but nodded and grudgingly stuffed the money back into her pocket. He was right, of course. She wasn't delusional. She knew this was crazy but when you have nothing left to lose, crazy starts to look more and more like your only hope.

She picked up two of her smaller bags only because her uncle had already hoisted up her other large one with his free hand and began lumbering on into the house. Leigh picked up her pace to keep up with him. Her petite 4'11" frame was no match for her uncle's towering stature.

"Lucky! Heel, boy!" Frank bellowed. Leigh froze on the front porch, unable to make herself walk inside no matter how rude it might come across. She forgot her uncle had a dog. She hated dogs. Big dogs mostly but she wasn't exactly about to go out of her way to go near any dog at all, ever. Why couldn't everyone just have a cat, instead? Cats were clean. Cats were calm and quiet. Cats lived lives of aloof superiority and they hated everyone. They were the perfect companions. Leigh understood cats. Dogs embodied everything Leigh despised. They were loud, obnoxious, hyperactive, overbearing, filthy, irritatingly needy and Leigh didn't care what anyone said; she refused to believe that any animal that mindlessly follows orders from humans could be intelligent. Dogs were just the absolute worst.

Frank poked his head back out the door. "Ya can come in, now, Leigh. Coast is clear. I know ya ain't too fond o' canines so I let Lucky out the back door. He'll stay 'round back until we can get ya settled in yer own place."

"Thanks, Uncle Frank," Leigh sighed with relief and set her bags on the floor just inside the front door. When she straightened, she came face-to-face with Frank, wearing his best concerned relative face. She felt her gut sink down to her kneecaps. She was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with the heart-to-heart discussion about what happened right away. She was hungry (which the smell of fresh pizza baking in the oven didn't help), exhausted, she needed a coffee and all she wanted to do was sleep for at least nine solid hours.

"I know ya were just puttin' on a brave face out there," he told her, his voice softer than his brash, brassy bellow from outside. "How're ya holdin' up, sweetheart?" he asked her.

How long had it been since someone had spoken to her with such genuine affection? Leigh couldn't even remember. Before she could close herself off behind her comforting wall of stoicism, the tears were streaking down Leigh's face and her shoulders were shaking despite her best efforts to stem the sudden outpouring of raw emotion.

She felt herself being pulled into her uncle's warm hug and Leigh clung to him for dear life, surprising even herself. She shied away from physical contact with people. She shied away from people in general, but she hadn't realised just how starved for affection she was until she was finally shown some. "He called me a useless, ungrateful brat," Leigh wept into Frank's faded overalls. "He said I've failed at everything I've ever tried to do with my life... and he's right."

"Yer pa forgets he didn't have life all figured out when he was yer age, Leigh," Frank said gently, patting Leigh's dark brunette ponytail. "He's too hard on ya. Always has been and it ain't fair, I know. He's downright cruel to ya, but ya can't change how anyone else decides to act. All ya can control is how ya react to it."

Leigh nodded but she wasn't sure if she understood what her uncle was getting at. She pulled her glasses off her nose and wiped at the lenses with her sleeve; they had fogged up with her tears. She allowed herself a feeble smile when she felt her uncle kiss the top of her head just like he used to do when she was little. "All I ever wanted was to be good enough for them... but I'm never good enough, Uncle Frank," her voice caught in her throat.

"Ya hafta be good enough fer yerself before ya can worry about bein' good enough fer somebody else," Frank pointed out to her. Leigh didn't know how to put into words that her opinion of herself was entirely dependant on her parents' opinion of her. Maybe that was the problem, but Leigh didn't know how to separate the two. She'd spent so long trying to achieve perfection with everything she did in order to win her parents' affections that she wasn't sure she knew how to do anything just for her.

When Leigh didn't give her uncle an answer to that, Frank just patted her shoulder with an understanding nod. "Ya must be real tired an' I can hear that empty belly o' yers howlin' like a coyote in springtime. I'll go get that pizza, then ya best get off ta bed. Ya got an early start tomorrow. I can't wait ta introduce ya to all the neighbours 'round these here parts. Been singin' yer praises ta the whole town since I found out ya were comin' ta live here," he grinned, but caught the apprehensive look on his niece's face. "Now don't give me that look, missy. I know ya don't get on real well with most people but the folks 'round here are good, honest folk who'd give ya the shirt off their backs if ya really needed it. Give 'em a chance."

"I... will try my best," Leigh agreed, but she had a hard time believing she'd be able to make any friends here. She didn't have the best track record with people. It was why she kept to herself and her books. Fictional characters were often better company than the real deal. They were even better company when she was the one who breathed life into them by writing them onto the pages. Like the cats she adored, Leigh disliked pretty much everyone and kept them at a comfortably detached distance.

"That's my girl," Frank smiled. "Now wash up fer supper afore the pizza burns an' we end up chompin' on charcoal."


	2. Wrongful Accusations

**Author's Note:** _This chapter features Shan, whom Shan O 123 from the Fogu forums was kind enough to allow me to use. Shan is her OC from her own Trio of Towns game. Shan will be a recurring character in this series but I don't own Shan. I'm just borrowing her. Check out shan o 123 on to read her stories._

* * *

Sharp barking startled Leigh awake. She sat up in bed with a gasp, looking around wildly for the source of the monstrous noise. Her heart felt like it was flopping around inside her ribcage like a fish out of water. Why was there a dog near her?! She didn't own a dog!

It took almost a full minute for reality to sink into her sleep-fogged, caffeine-deprived brain. The barking was coming from outside. Oh. Right. It was her uncle's dog. She wasn't at home anymore. Hopefully, she'd never go back there again. She was staying with Uncle Frank in Westown for a few days and he'd relegated his dog to the back porch on her behalf.

But why was that mangy mutt yapping his head off?

Figuring the dummy had caught a glimpse of his own tail or something, Leigh threw the covers off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed, grumbling under her breath the entire time. "Dumb dog..." she growled, trying to wipe the sleepy gunk from her eyes. Where were her glasses? It was bad enough her left eye had virtually no vision left in it, her glasses were the only thing that helped her right eye compensate.

Amidst the energetic yelps coming from outside, Leigh could hear the rumbling sound of her uncle's snoring coming from his bed. How had she slept through that? The man sounded like a hibernating bear. Evidently, he slept like one, too, if he could sleep through all the racket outside.

Speaking of outside... Leigh shoved her glasses onto her nose and looked out the window. She gave a frustrated groan almost as loud as her uncle's snoring. The sun was just barely up. She could still see the remnants of fading stars in the sky against the backdrop of blue slowly giving way to pink and orange. It was too damn early to be dealing with a hyperactive dog and she hadn't had a cup of coffee, yet.

Leigh didn't bother to pull on shoes or get dressed. She stomped outside with mussed hair in her ratty tank top and girl boxers to give that aggravating creature a piece of her mind. "Will you shut the hell up, you mongrel?! It's too early for th—"

Leigh stopped mid-sentence. There was someone on her uncle's farm. That's why Lucky was going nuts.

There was a strange woman in her uncle's crop field, acting as if she belonged there, but Leigh had never seen her before in her life. She looked much too young to be Frank's girlfriend, too, though admittedly, Leigh had never really cared enough about her uncle's love life to ask him about it. For all she knew, he could have a spunky young lady friend in his life. Age was just a number, right?

Leigh's fleeting benefit of the doubt evaporated into the hazy sunrise as quickly as her short span of patience did when she witnessed the woman make her way in between the ripe rows of veggies and begin plucking all the produce straight out of the ground. This intruder was helping herself to Uncle Frank's hard-earned harvest! The nerve!

Maybe if Leigh hadn't been the victim of a rude awakening at the crack of dawn and maybe if she'd had her morning caffeine fix, Leigh would have had a less... confrontational reaction to the situation. Maybe. But probably not.

She grabbed a rusty pitchfork leaning up against the wall of her uncle's house and marched into the field in her bare feet, brandishing her farm tool like a mighty battle sword. "HEY!" she shouted, jabbing the pointed end of the pitchfork forward so that the menacing prongs pointed straight at the woman. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Those are my uncle's crops! You can't just help yourself to someone else's property, you... you... you crop thief!"

The woman dropped her basket, the turnips she had gathered rolling away in all directions. Her eyes widened and she threw her hands up in the air at the sight of the pitchfork, taking a step back. "Whoah! I think there's been a misunderstanding here!" she tried to explain herself, then glanced between the raised pitchfork and the irate brunette with a mildly amused expression. "Even if I was stealing crops... which I'm not!" she added quickly when Leigh thrust the pitchfork forward. "Don't you think impaling someone over some turnips is a little over-the-top?"

Leigh opened her mouth to fire off a retort but she was interrupted by her uncle hopping out of the house on one foot, trying to tug on one of his boots. His overalls were crooked and he'd forgotten to don his signature straw hat so Leigh guessed he had dressed in a hurry when he woke up and saw the scene outside from his window.

"Leigh, what in tarnation d'ya think ye're doin'?" he hollered. Having managed to get his boot on properly, he jogged the rest of the way into the field and confiscated the pitchfork from his niece.

"This psycho was trying to steal your crops!" Leigh protested, putting her hands on her hips. "I was trying to stop her!"

"Psycho? Look, I'm not the one waving pitchforks around," the other woman pointed out. Somehow, the fact that she looked more bemused than angry only made Leigh more furious. She just about burst a blood vessel when her uncle broke out into hearty guffaws, leaning back and grabbing his round belly. What exactly did everyone find so funny?! She might be short but surely she was at least a little intimidating when she was angry! She felt intimidating, anyway.

"Leigh, Shan here wasn't stealin' my crops," Frank revealed the stranger's name. "I've been puttin' job postings up in town fer some help around the farm lately an' bless Shan, she's always the one showin' up ta help me look after things. I guess ye're here doin' that harvestin' job I posted about yesterday?" Frank asked Shan. Shan grinned and nodded.

"Sure am!" she told him. "I figured if I got started bright and early, I'd have some extra time to help Miranda out at the shop and maybe give Omekichi a hand over in Tsuyukusa later. He's had a hard time pulling up the weeds in his rice fields on his own," Shan explained. "I didn't want to wake you up, though, so I was just going to leave the turnips by the front door with a note saying I stopped by." Frank rubbed his stubbly chin and nodded.

"An' poor Yuzuki's still on the frail side, ain't he? No wonder Omekichi needs an extra pair o' hands on his farm. Ye're a good soul, Shan, always lookin' ta help whoever needs it," he praised her, then turned to his niece. "This here's my niece, Leigh," he introduced her to Shan. "I know she can rub ya the wrong way at first, but she's movin' here an' I'd love fer her ta make friends. I hope ya won't hold a grudge against her fer this."

"I'm standing right here, Uncle Frank," Leigh grumbled. Shan grinned and held out a hand for a handshake.

"Sure thing, Frank. It was just a big misunderstanding. Nice to meet you, Leigh," she extended an olive branch to the other girl. "Looks like I woke you up," she commented on the fact that Leigh was still standing out here barefoot in practically just her underwear. "Anyone would be cranky about that. Sorry."

Leigh took Shan's hand and shook it. "... I guess. Sorry for almost stabbing you with a pitchfork."

Shan and Frank both laughed at that. Seriously, why was everything that came out of her mouth so damn hysterical to these people? She was genuinely agitated right now and no one seemed to care! She wished she had a cup of coffee in her hand. It would make her less... murdery.

Leigh looked down at her clothes (or lack of clothes, rather) and sighed. "I'm going to go get dressed," she announced.

"Good plan. We're already behind schedule with yer trainin'," Frank told her. Right. Farming. Livestock. Crops. Learning the ropes. That's what she was here for. Maybe having some work to do would help her cool off. Even better, maybe her uncle had a coffee machine in the house she could take advantage of while she got dressed.

There was no coffee in the house (of course), but Leigh managed to get inside and change into something decent while avoiding the dog, so she supposed that was some sort of small sign that the day might turn around in her favour. She expected Shan to be gone by the time she came back outside. After all, she technically had done her job. The turnips were harvested, they were just... all over the ground instead of in a basket, but Shan and Frank were still standing outside talking when Leigh opened the front door. She caught the tail end of their conversation.

"Leigh's had a rough time lately," Frank told Shan in a hushed voice. "Things aren't so great fer her back home. That's why she's here. She's a good girl, she's jest dealin' with a lot. I know she can be difficult but it'd mean a lot ta me if ya made her feel welcome."

Leigh had heard enough. She stormed past the two of them into the barn, but called over her shoulder before she disappeared inside. "I don't need you spreading my business around to a bunch of strangers, Uncle Frank!" How dare he?! Her business wasn't his business to share with anyone! She was here to work, not to gossip about her problems with people she barely knew.

Blinking the moisture from her eyes, Leigh made her way to the tack room and grabbed a grooming kit. Horses were the one thing about farm life she was familiar with. She used to take horseback riding lessons in grade school, then she worked on a horse farm part-time during the summer in high school. If Frank was going to gossip with the neighbours instead of show her how to run a farm, Leigh might as well do the only work she didn't need any help with.

"Hey there, well aren't you the prettiest thing," Leigh smiled when she saw a handsome black gelding munching on a flake of hay in his stall. He looked up at her with a snort and Leigh opened the stall door to lead him out into the aisle by his halter. She tied him up and picked out a rubber curry comb to get the grit out from underneath his coat. She liked the curry comb. There was something soothing about running it over the horse in a circular motion. The horses enjoyed it, too, especially in the summer when they were itchy with sweat and bug bites. It was like a massage for them.

Leigh wasn't sure how long she stayed with Uncle Frank's horse, but it was long enough for her to get lost in the enjoyable work and allow herself to relax. She'd almost forgotten she was upset until she was interrupted.

"Leigh?" Leigh turned around to find Shan leaning against the barn doors. Her face darkened and she turned back to the horse, carefully teasing the knots out of his long mane.

"What do you want?" she asked curtly.

"Your uncle was telling me you're a coffee lover and I happen to know where to get the best-tasting cup of coffee in town," Shan offered. "I think Frank still wants to show you around the farm but when you're finished with chores for the day, some friends and I like to get together at this place called the Garden Grill for lunch. You're more than welcome to come join us there."

Leigh sighed and dropped her comb back into the grooming kit, turning around to face Shan with her arms folded across her chest. "Look... Shan, is it? I'm sure you're as great as my uncle says you are and I really am sorry about the pitchfork thing, but if you're just being nice to me as a favour to my uncle or because you feel sorry for me, let's just not, okay?"

"I might not have been clear enough," Shan smirked. "Let me rephrase. There. Will. Be. Coffee," she repeated, enunciating every word.

Leigh couldn't help herself. She smirked back with a dry huff of amusement. She really did need a caffeine fix. Her head was pounding and she could feel the shakes setting in.

"Alright. I'll meet you there. For coffee.


	3. Caffeine At Last!

Leigh took a deep breath and exhaled loudly when she located the Garden Grill restaurant Shan had told her about. She'd said a few of her friends would be here. How many friends did Shan consider "a few?" What kind of people were they? Leigh probably wouldn't like these friends of hers, whoever they were. Leigh didn't like most people so assuming she wouldn't like someone before she met them wasn't unfair; it was just simple reasoning.

She almost turned around and went back to Uncle Frank's farm. What did she care if Shan got angry? She barely knew her and she didn't know any of her friends at all. Leigh hated social engagements and she hated meeting new people and she'd much rather be grooming horses back at the farm than trying to pretend she was a pleasant human being just to appease a bunch of strangers.

... But Leigh loved coffee and she could smell the freshly ground beans brewing from inside those Western-style swinging doors. This was the only place in town Leigh could get a cup of coffee, according to Uncle Frank. She'd interrogated him for every known location of a coffee-serving establishment within a fifty kilometre radius of his house. If she didn't get her caffeine fix here, she never would and the withdrawals were getting worse by the minute. Besides, she was usually slightly more tolerable company with a cup of coffee in her hand. She might be able to survive this with some coffee to help her out. Maybe.

With a small groan, Leigh stepped forward and swung open the doors, stepping inside. It was almost laughable how outdated the decor of this place was, but she guessed it fit right into an ol' Western town like this one. There was a stage for a band in one corner of the dining area but there were no musicians using it at the moment. Wooden tables were strewn haphazardly all around the room with the bar at the back. Well she wouldn't be using that unless they were serving coffee back there, too.

"Leigh! Over here!" Shan sat at one of the tables next to the wall along with a blonde guy wearing a cowboy hat that Leigh had never seen before. To Leigh's relief, there was no one else at the table. Socializing with one or two people at a time was much more manageable than trying to be civilised with a large group of strangers.

Leigh walked over and sat down with a nod to both of them. The man started laughing when Leigh came closer and he was able to get a good look at her. "This is the pitchfork-wieldin' warrior woman that nearly gutted ya this mornin'? Ya sure? She's four foot nothin'!" he chuckled.

"4'11", actually..." Leigh grumbled, giving the guy a death glare. "Glad to see my reputation precedes me already and I haven't even been in town for twenty-four hours, yet."

Shan elbowed the man in the side. "Hey, c'mon, Wayne, be nice. She's grumpy. She needs her coffee," she winked at Leigh. Leigh didn't know why but she found herself returning Shan's teasing with a small smirk. Okay, maybe she didn't hate Shan as much as Leigh hated most human beings. Maybe, just maybe, Leigh actually thought Shan might be kind of okay.

"Okay, I have three coffees, black, with sugar and creamers on the side and a large pepperoni pizza, just like you ordered. Enjoy!" a cheerful blonde woman sauntered over to their table, setting down a large tray. The smell of the coffee mingled with the smell of the freshly baked pizza made Leigh's mouth water, but she was confused. She'd just walked in. How did the waitress know she wanted a coffee?

"Oh, but I haven't ordered anyth-" Leigh started to say, but Shan waved a hand dismissively before she slid one of the coffee mugs over to her and plopped a big slice of pizza onto a plate to offer it to her. Leigh took the plate with slow, cautious movements, as if she half-expected this to all be some elaborate prank where Shan and Wayne suddenly yank the food away from her and yell GOTCHA, PUNK! When no such thing happened, she furrowed her thinly-plucked jet black brows, making Shan laugh.

"We ordered for you, Leigh," she explained. "That's why we got the sugar and creamers on the side. We didn't know how you like your coffee and I figured since your uncle's a pizza connoisseur, it might run in the family,"she grinned. "But if I was wrong on that guess, we can order something else."

"No, you were bang on with that assumption, actually," Leigh laughed. Oh sweet Mother Goddess, she had coffee now! Leigh hastily dumped two sugar packets and five creamers into the bitter brown liquid and stirred before taking that first blissful sip. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair with a happy sigh. She could already feel that throbbing headache easing away.

"Thanks fer the grub, Carrie. Here's a tip fer ya. Go buy somethin' pretty fer yerself with it, ya deserve it fer deliverin' such great service all the time," the man named Wayne flashed a smile at the waitress and handed her some gold coins. Carrie rolled her eyes but accepted the tip, tucking it into a pocket on her apron.

"You, Mr. Wayne, are a terrible flirt. You're lucky my husband likes you or you'd have found yourself in a spot of trouble with him by now," Carrie teased him. Wayne leaned back in his chair and tipped his hat to the woman.

"Ah, you an' Brad both know I have more manners than that. You can call it flirtin' if ya like, but I call it bein' nice to a lady... an' just bein' nice is all it'll ever be with a respectable married woman like yerself," he assured her. Carrie laughed and shook her head.

"Enjoy your meal, you three," she smiled and walked back to the counter.

"Have a nice day, ma'am," Wayne called after her, then turned his attention back to the two women he was sitting with. Now that Leigh had enough caffeine in her to start really taking in her surroundings, she noticed that Wayne's chair was very close to Shan's, closer than what was generally considered normal even for very close friends. Shan also glanced over at Wayne every now and then out of the corner of her eye with a faint smile of... either affection or just plain attraction, Leigh couldn't really tell. Whenever Shan looked away, Wayne would do the same with her, so the two of them kept exchanging these longing glances at each other without either of them knowing the other was looking at them the same way. Yeah, there was definitely some kind of story there.

 _Great, so I'm a third wheel_ , Leigh realised just as she took her first bite of pizza. Well, this was her life now, she supposed. She didn't like to rehash her own long tragic history with men but suffice it to say, Leigh's vision of the future for herself involved a house full of cats and not much else. Over the past couple years, she'd slowly watched all her friends get married and start families, leaving her behind in the process. She was going to have to get used to watching everyone around her be all couply and cutesy with each other if she still wanted to see her friends. _I'm supposed to be making friends here. That's what Uncle Frank says_ , Leigh reminded herself. _I'm just going to have to get used to being the only one by myself._ It was depressing, she wasn't about to lie to herself, but it was probably for the best. Like her parents always told her, the only way anyone would ever go on a second date with her was if they were getting paid to put up with her.

"Leigh? Ya alright there?" Wayne's voice made Leigh jump slightly. She hadn't realised she was lost in thought. Well, she was doing a fine job of making friends so far, wasn't she?

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Leigh shook her morose thoughts from her mind and forced a smile on her face. "Sorry, I spaced out. Probably still recovering from being on the road all day yesterday. Travelling always wipes me out," she made up an excuse. It was true. Travelling did leave her tired, so she wasn't being entirely dishonest. "I guess I need more of this coffee," she gave a forced laugh and took another sip.

"Thinking up your next bestseller?" Shan asked through a mouthful of pizza.

"How did you-?"

"Sorry. Your Uncle Frank's chatty," Shan shrugged. When Shan caught the frown on Leigh's face, she swallowed and gave an apologetic smile. "I can see how strangers knowing all your business might suck, though. I'll stop. Promise," she assured her. Leigh's expression softened and her shoulders sagged.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll yell at my Uncle Frank later," she told Shan, glancing down into her mug. It was half empty already. Damn. Did this place do free refills?

"Ye're a writer?" Wayne asked with interest, leaning forward in his seat. "I love readin', what kinda stuff do ya write?"

"Yeah. No. I mean..." Leigh stammered. She wasn't used to anyone taking an interest in her writing. It caught her off-guard. "I have one published book. I'm working on another one, but it's not a big deal... I don't know if having one book for sale really makes me a writer, but... I write," she finished awkwardly, fidgeting slightly in her chair.

"That totally makes you a writer! Right, Wayne?" Shan immediately jumped to Leigh's defence. Wayne was nodding his head emphatically before Shan even finished speaking.

"Sure does! Ya gotta learn ta toot yer own horn every once in a while there, Leigh. Where can I buy yer book? I wanna read it as long as ya sign it fer me," he grinned, folding his arms over his denim-clad chest.

"You have to order it... online. That might be kind of hard around here," Leigh admitted. "But if you can get your hands on a copy, I'll totally sign it for you. Both of you. As a thank you for buying it," she looked between Wayne and Shan, smiling. She didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore. She was talking about her passion and even though writing and farming were completely unrelated things, having these new friends of hers take such a keen interest in something she put so much of herself into made her feel like maybe she could do this farming thing, after all. Maybe she wasn't as much of a useless waste as her parents said she was. She decided to keep the whole thing about the farm on the down low, though. Just in case she made herself look like an idiot as soon as she started bonding with them and they laughed at her for getting such a dumb notion into her head. Things were going so well in the conversation right now that Leigh was sure she was about to screw it all up soon.

The screwup Leigh had been expecting from herself never happened, however. The three of them sat there long after they finished their food, chatting away. Leigh learned that Wayne was the local postman... and resident heartbreaker, which made her a little wary of the way Shan kept stealing glances at him. As a fellow woman, she felt some sense of moral obligation to watch out for her, but since Leigh had no idea just how serious these two were or whether those gooey-eyed side glances were anything at all, she decided not to step into any drama over that just yet. She'd get to know them better, first, then decide if getting involved with whatever was happening with Shan and Wayne was necessary at all.

Leigh also learned that Shan was in a somewhat similar position as her. She was staying with her older brother, Henry, on his farm to get away from her folks for a while. They also both had younger sisters named Lynn which was more than a little creepy. What were the odds? Thankfully, that seemed to be where the similarities ended, though. Shan didn't seem interested in taking over her brother's farm or starting her own farm, although she liked helping out well enough. She was working at the General Store for a woman named Miranda and took odd jobs from the Part-Time Job Agency in town. She was trying a little bit of everything to figure herself out.

"That's pretty cool," Leigh told her. "Most people don't get the opportunity to just dabble in whatever they want. They get pressured into locking themselves into one thing as soon as they turn eighteen, but who the hell knows what they want to do with the rest of their lives at eighteen? I knew I wanted to write novels, but that was about it and I still would have liked to try some other things, too... like art, equestrian sports, stuff like that," she confided in Shan, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "You're taking control of your own life and doing things your own way at your own pace. That's an admirable quality to have. Hang onto it. Don't let anybody rip it away from you."

Shan looked somewhat touched for a moment but Wayne spoke first. "Ya know, somethin' about the way ya talk makes me think ya'd get on with a friend o' mine, Leigh," he said, rubbing his chin. Leigh raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to set me up on a blind date? Because I'm really not interested," she stated right away. Wayne started laughing so hard, his hat slipped down over his eyes and he had to correct it.

"Believe me, Ford likely ain't interested, either," Wayne cackled while Shan had a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress her giggle fit. Ford must be quite the character. Leigh normally didn't like meeting new people, but weird people? Well. That was much more interesting. "He's the doctor 'round these here parts but he's away at some medical conference right now," Wayne explained. "I'll introduce ya when he gets back."

"Okay. Sure," Leigh agreed, her interest peaked. A weird doctor, huh? She might get some good material for a new book soon enough. That sounded like a story waiting to be written if she ever heard one. She glanced at her watch and nearly knocked over the mugs on the table from jumping to her feet so quickly. "Ah, shit! I told Uncle Frank I'd be back in time to bring the cows in from pasture and do the evening watering," she groaned. "I've gotta go, but thanks for lunch and... oh, here's some money to pay Carrie with," Leigh threw down what she hoped was enough to cover the coffee and at least some of the pizza onto the table. "See you guys around!" she called, already heading for the door.

"Hey, Leigh!" Shan called after her. Leigh stopped with her hand on the doors and turned just enough to look back at her.

"Yeah?"

"Your uncle was right about you. You are pretty nice... y'know, when you're not all stabby-like," she grinned. Leigh burst into a peel of laughter and nodded her head.

"Thanks. Same to you... when you're not 'stealing' turnips," she teased, then pushed the doors open and headed on home.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Frank! I completely lost track of time. I know, I know, I'm irresponsible and inconsiderate and ungrateful and useless and have no hope of making anything of myself, let alone running a farm and I'm gonna get the watering can out right now, I swear, I-" Leigh rambled on in one long continuous breath as she skidded into the barn where her uncle was mucking out one of the stalls.

"Leigh, breathe afore ya keel over an' die on me, would ya?" Frank chuckled, setting his pitchfork against the wall and walking out of the stall, wiping his hands on his overalls. He walked over to his niece and put a hand on her shoulder. "All that nonsense that jus' came outta yer mouth? That's yer ma n' pa talkin', not me," he reminded her gently.

"... 'Kay," Leigh whispered in a small voice.

"Ya ain't even all that late. Things are always runnin' a bit behind schedule on a farm so I'm jus' startin' the evenin' routine now. Now... about the most important thing. Did ya have fun?" he smiled. Leigh smiled back.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did," Leigh told him. "I didn't expect to, but... I did." Frank beamed and affectionately rustled Leigh's ponytail, messing it up.

"'Atta girl," he grinned. "I want ya to be successful on yer farm. I really do an' I think ya will be, but even more than that... I want ya ta feel like ya belong somewhere fer once," he told her. "That starts with buildin' friendships."

"Dammit Uncle Frank, you're going to make me cry again and I'm wearing eyeliner this time," Leigh half-laughed, half-cried, dabbing carefully at her eyes with the corner of her sleeve. Uncle Frank chuckled and pulled a small bell out of his pocket, handing it to her.

"Alright, alright. No more from me," he promised her. "Animals first, then crops. Let's go rustle us up some bovines."


End file.
